Wild Chamomile

Matricaria chamomilla

Description:

Daisy-like plant that has a pleasant smell. Unlike the common daisy, chamomile has branching stems and therefore many flowers on one plant. The stems are smooth and the leaves are small and branching. As the flower ages, the yellow disc becomes rounder and "fatter" (see the last pic). Commonly used in tea, which has some effect at soothing sore stomachs and indigestion.

Habitat:

Tolerant of a wide range of soils, but prefers well drained and sandy areas with full sun. I found these chamomile plants on the island of Videy, off the coast of Reykjavik.

Notes:

Chamomile was quite common around Iceland, it grew a lot at roadsides or in cracks of pavement. Far more common than it is where I live in the UK.

Species ID Suggestions

8 Comments

ceherzog 11 years ago

I think if one were to really investigate 1 square meter daily, you might be amazed. Beautiful shots and may I encourage you to continue your search around the campus.

LauraMaria 11 years ago

Thanks Neil and Craig! Aha, I actually knew that the yellow disc is also made up of little florets, I think I chose the wrong word! Should I have said something like "flower head" maybe? I don't think it's being pedantic at all, as I don't want to spread misinformation! I just don't know enough about plant anatomy to know what the right word for the... "flower" bit is. This is why being an algal biologist is easy, just the one cell on my organisms! :D

craigwilliams 11 years ago

Wonderful photos of a gorgeous plant Laura. Congratulations on reaching this milestone!

At the risk of being pedantic, all 'flowers' in the Daisy family Asteraceae are actually composit inflorescences made up of many actual flowers. The common Daisy, Bellis perrenis also often has many 'flowers' on the same plant, it just produces them seperately from the leaf rosette instead of having a branching inflorescence.